The Effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Interventions for People Living With Dementia: An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

IF 2.5 4区医学 Q2 NURSING

International Journal of Nursing Practice Pub Date : 2026-07-23 DOI:10.1111/ijn.70172

Jia Zhou, Siqi Li, Hanyu Liu, Yue Sun, Zhiwen Wang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aims

This overview aims to provide high-quality evidence synthesis of animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) among people living with dementia.

Background

Dementia has become the seventh leading cause of death in the world. Unfortunately, currently effective pharmacological interventions remain elusive. As a non-pharmacological treatment, AAI is gaining more attention while the effectiveness of AAI for people living with dementia remains unclear.

Methods

EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, CNKI, VIP, CBM and Wanfang databases were searched from inception to March 2026. The AMSTAR2 was used to assess the methodological quality of the included reviews. Meta-analysis was conducted using STATA 16 for the original studies identified from the included reviews. Evidence quality of main outcomes was assessed according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) guidelines.

Results

Sixteen systematic reviews were included in the overview. A significant improvement was found in depression among dementia patients, but not in agitation, quality of life (QOL), cognition and activities of daily living (ADL).

Conclusions

There is moderate evidence that AAI has positive effects on depression for people living with dementia. Despite searches, no sufficient evidence has been found to substantiate the positive effects of AAI on other outcomes in people living with dementia. Due to the small number of studies, small sample sizes and significant heterogeneity, more randomised controlled trials with large samples are needed.

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动物辅助干预对痴呆症患者的有效性：系统回顾和荟萃分析综述。

目的：本综述旨在为痴呆症患者的动物辅助干预（AAIs）提供高质量的证据综合。背景：痴呆症已成为世界上第七大死因。不幸的是，目前有效的药物干预仍然难以捉摸。作为一种非药物治疗方法，AAI越来越受到人们的关注，但AAI对痴呆症患者的有效性尚不清楚。方法：检索EMBASE、PubMed、Cochrane Library、CINAHL、CNKI、VIP、CBM、万方数据库，检索时间为建库至2026年3月。AMSTAR2用于评估纳入综述的方法学质量。使用STATA 16对纳入综述的原始研究进行meta分析。主要结局的证据质量根据建议评估、发展和评价分级（GRADE）指南进行评估。结果：综述纳入了16个系统评价。痴呆患者在抑郁方面有显著改善，但在躁动、生活质量（QOL）、认知和日常生活活动（ADL）方面没有改善。结论：有中度证据表明AAI对痴呆患者的抑郁有积极作用。尽管进行了研究，但没有发现足够的证据证明AAI对痴呆症患者的其他结果有积极影响。由于研究数量少，样本量小，异质性显著，需要更多的大样本随机对照试验。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Nursing Practice NURSING-

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： International Journal of Nursing Practice is a fully refereed journal that publishes original scholarly work that advances the international understanding and development of nursing, both as a profession and as an academic discipline. The Journal focuses on research papers and professional discussion papers that have a sound scientific, theoretical or philosophical base. Preference is given to high-quality papers written in a way that renders them accessible to a wide audience without compromising quality. The primary criteria for acceptance are excellence, relevance and clarity. All articles are peer-reviewed by at least two researchers expert in the field of the submitted paper.